Trying to eat “warmer” foods on a raw diet while maintaining raw preparation can be difficult, unless you have a dehydrator. Dehydrators help to keep living foods alive, provided you don’t exceed the 115º Fahrenheit temperature. Usually, dehydrating food can take some time, but this recipe doesn’t require as much time as it takes to make chips or dehydrated fruit. This recipe only requires four hours in the dehydrator, which is great!

These raw meatballs exhibit less of an Italian flavor profile than you would expect from a traditional meatball. Instead, the flavor is a little sweeter and more akin to Swedish meatballs, minus the overly sweet glaze that comes with them. If you prefer a more savory flavor, omit the dates in the recipe. The rest of the ingredients have notably intense and briny, cheesy, and aromatic flavors.

One thing to keep in mind is that you want to thoroughly blend the ingredients, but not so much so that it turns to a paste. Everything should stick together very well, which will help the raw meatballs stay together during the dehydration process. Lastly, these meatballs will work with myriad zoodle recipes. We find that they go great with a creamy avocado sauce (click here for recipe), but a raw marinara sauce (click here for recipe) is quite nice as well. If you are a pesto lover and can’t get enough of it, click here to make a raw vegan pesto to go with your meatballs.

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We’re going to say this right away: this is one of those recipes you want to save. It is rich, but not overwhelming. Use it as a condiment, dip, spread, or sauce. You get that signature cheesy flavor without having to use fattening, sodium-rich cheese. You may love it so much that you abandon regular nacho cheese sauce for good!

Unlike other raw vegan “cheese” sauces, this nacho cheese sauce is completely nut-free. Instead of nuts or seeds, this sauce uses zucchini, red bell pepper, and nutritional yeast as thickening/flavor agents. The nutritional yeast is where that cheese flavor comes from, and it provides vegans with essential vitamin B12, which they typically lack due to their diet. Because zucchini has a lot of water, though, you have to dehydrate zucchini slices for about one hour at 115º F prior to blending it with the rest of the ingredients. That step, which may seem annoying, will help your sauce retain a luxuriously thick consistency.

The reason that this recipe uses zucchini instead of cashews is to help ease digestion. It is best that you do not mix a starch with protein. This may not matter so much to everyone, but those with sensitive digestive systems can benefit from knowing these types of food combining rules. If you ever want to familiarize yourself with those rules, click here for more information. Until then, enjoy the recipe!

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We are going to show you how easy it is to make bruschetta, the vegan way. It is a simple yet impressive appetizer that takes about 10 minutes to make. Not only is bruschetta a classic appetizer that most people enjoy, but this one is also vegan, dairy-free, nut-free, and soy-free. It can even be gluten-free if you choose gluten-free bread.

When making bruschetta, you want high quality ingredients because it is a fresh dish. For this reason, we recommend that you use heirloom tomatoes, which offer a rich, sweet and slightly tart flavor profile. They are only enhanced by the herbs, seasonings, garlic, and olive oil. Speaking of which, we encourage you to use cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil for this vegan appetizer. The richness of that type of olive oil only enhances the natural flavors of the rest of the ingredients.

A typical bruschetta recipe contains parmesan cheese, but this recipe does not. If your taste buds yearn for that signature, sharp cheesy flavor, feel free to sprinkle in some nutritional yeast. Certain vegan food manufacturers also make vegan parmesan, which you can include in this recipe if you want. This recipe, however, only uses simple, fresh ingredients that speak for themselves. We promise that you’ll fall in love with this vegan bruschetta immediately after your first bite. Wanting a little more pizzazz? Hit your bruschetta with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar!

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Fret not, people who aim to be gluten- and nut-free, there are many nut- and grain-free flours for you to consume. This is primarily for people who transition to the paleo diet, for which you will find many recipes and exclusive content. Many people make cookies, muffins, pancakes, and more using paleo-approved flour alternatives. So what exactly are those options and are they available?

Because there is a growing market of gluten-free and paleo flour alternatives, you can find them more easily in grocery stores. You don’t have to sift through (pun intended) the deep channels of the internet to find them, or which ones you can consume. That’s also why we decided to compile a list of the best grain-free, nut-free flour alternatives. More often than not, you can use these flour alternatives like regular flour, but you may need to adjust the moisture content of recipes. Even if you don’t adhere to the paleo diet, these flour alternatives come in handy for people with nut or gluten allergies/intolerances. 

Coconut Flour

Coconut flour is quite popular among gluten-free and nut-free diets. In fact, coconut is a paleo staple, whether it is in oil, raw, or flour form. Coconut flour may be the most popular grain-free flour alternative because of how widely available and versatile it is. It has an inherently low-carb profile, making it suitable for keto diet enthusiasts. The macronutrient profile is a healthy balance of fats, fiber, and protein; plus, it offers superfood powers in the form of monounsaturated fatty acids. For every cup of regular flour, you only need to use 1/4-1/3 cup of coconut flour. 

Tiger Nut Flour

Tiger nut is not a nut, but rather a small root vegetable that grows in the Mediterranean and Northern Africa. It is a nutrient-dense plant and historians believe that ancient peoples consumed it. Tiger nut flour contains gut-friendly prebiotics that feed that good bacteria in your gut. It has risen to fame in recent years as a health food staple, especially when you consider that it contains potassium, vitamins C & E, and phosphorus. It can be difficult to source, but if you find it online, you can generally use a 1:1 ratio when adapting recipes with flour.

Green Banana Flour

Although green bananas are not very tasty, they do exhibit an impressive nutritional profile. One of the primary benefits is the presence of resistant starch, which is a highly beneficial prebiotic fiber that fuels beneficial gut bacteria. Green banana flour is similar to the aforementioned tiger nut flour in that way. The good news about this flour is that it doesn’t taste like bitter green bananas. That means you can use it in both savory and sweet recipes. Green banana flour has a mild, earthy flavor profile and the replacement ration is about 2/3 cup of banana flour to one cup of wheat flour. 

Pumpkin Flour

Made from – you guessed it, dried pumpkins, this flour is wonderfully balanced with sweet and savory notes. Pumpkin flour is rich in antioxidants, making it an ideal year-round flour replacement, although the best applications may only exist during fall. Can you imagine making pumpkin bread with pumpkin flour? Generally speaking, you can use a 1:1 ratio when adapting recipes with flour. 

Cassava Flour

What is cassava, exactly? This is a valid question because most people are not familiar with this tuber. Also known as yuca, cassava is in the same plant family as potatoes, yams, and taro. Many people mistake cassava flour for tapioca flour because they both come from yuca. Unlike tapioca flour, which is made from the drained starchy liquid of yuca, cassava flour is made using the entire yuca root, which is peeled, dried, and ground into a fine powder. It has a neutral flavor, making it a great flour substitute for gluten-free, nut-free recipes. The replacement ratio is 1:1 and it adds a light, fluffy texture to your recipes. 

Arrowroot Flour

This flour is made by extracting the starches from the tubers of the arrowroot plant and grinding them up into a fine powder. It is actually commercially manufactured from the cassava root, but it tends to include other tropical ground tubers. Occasionally, it can contain potato starch, so make sure to read your labels in case that is an issue for your diet or health. If you are looking for arrowroot flour in the grocery store, it may go under the name “arrowroot powder” or “arrowroot starch.” It is flavorless and odorless and it has gained popularity in the keto and paleo diet communities. Arrowroot flour is a suitable alternative to cornstarch and is great to use when making bread, sweets, treats, and other baked goods.

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Not only is this vegan pesto oil-free, but it is also nut-free and dairy-free. Don’t worry, though, because you get that signature cheesy flavor from nutritional yeast. That’s your parmesan cheese replacement and you will be hard-pressed to tell the difference between that and the real deal. In fact, every vegan needs nutritional yeast in their cupboards at all times.

It seems strange that a pesto could be made without oil, but you simply substitute with water. If you are watching your caloric intake, substituting with water lowers the amount of calories in pesto. Additionally, the fact that this pesto doesn’t have nuts means that it doesn’t have as many calories as a walnut or cashew pesto, for example. It does, however, contain pumpkin seeds, so this pesto does contain some calories, but not to a point of worry.

To make the blending process easier, we recommend that you blend this pesto in a food processor, as opposed to a blender. If you have a high-speed blender and feel confident in its ability to blend, then you can absolutely use that. Food processors don’t require a lot of liquid and tend to blend very easily. Once you make this pesto, make sure to store it in an airtight container in the fridge and consume it within five days. Use it as a dip or sauce your raw zucchini noodles with it. You can always freeze leftovers if you feel that you cannot finish it before it expires.

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To all the people who love cilantro, this dip is for you. Not only is this dip raw vegan, but it is also nut-free, gluten-free, and absolutely delicious. Sunflower seeds offer a unique nutty flavor that works well with this dip. Plus, they are relatively inexpensive and soften quickly after you soak them in water. This is a necessary characteristic to yield a creamy, smooth dip. 

You have the option to use either a high-speed blender or a food processor. If your blender is average and cannot handle blending nuts or seeds, a food processor is the better kitchen tool for the job. Oftentimes, a food processor is great for nuts and seeds, as it blends them with ease. We’ve made raw vegan yogurt and other similar dips to this recipe with the food processor and it worked great. Alternatively, you can always add more lemon juice and some apple cider vinegar to yield a thinner consistency. If you go down that road, this will make a great dressing. 

One thing to keep in mind is that this dip yields about 1.5 cups, which translates to eight servings. Enjoying a large amount of this dip will increase your caloric intake, as sunflower seeds are calorically dense. They also exhibit several healthy properties, but they don’t cancel out the calories. This is something you should keep in mind when you enjoy raw nuts or seeds. 

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Summer is nearly here! We’ve been waiting for that warm sunshine for months, and now we can finally embrace outdoor activities, fun in the sun, and new seasonal produce. Don your flip flops, T-shirts, and shorts and get ready to visit the local grocery store or farmer’s market. One of the best summer produce items is basil. Buy the fresh plant that looks healthy and thriving instead of the 10 leaves that supermarkets sell in plastic cases for $5.

Not only does fresh basil smell incredible, but it also tastes amazing. You can blend it into a homemade pesto, add it to pasta sauces, or make this fresh dressing. It is a nut-free, oil-free, raw vegan dressing that goes great on almost any salad. Because the basil exhibits such a strong, signature flavor profile, it goes great with tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, and leafy greens like arugula, Romaine, or kale. But basil isn’t the only ingredient that makes this dressing great.

Flaxseed, or ground flaxseed in the case of this dressing, is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which work to encourage optimal heart and brain health. Several studies show that omega-3s also work to reduce inflammation. In addition to the ground flaxseed, this dressing includes fresh garlic cloves, sea salt, granulated onion, and water. That means that this is an oil-free, nut-free dressing, making this an excellent choice for anyone with a nut allergy.

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One of the best ways to increase your nutritional intake is via your salad dressings. There are light, zesty dressings that are low in calories, and there’s nothing wrong with those. They provide complementary acidity to the salad ingredients, but some dressings with more calories offer protein, healthy fats, and fiber. And we aren’t talking about store bought dressings, people. You can have a calorie-dense dressing that is much healthier than any dressing you’d buy in store.

When you want a creamy dressing that’s nut-free and rich in fiber and protein, this ranch-inspired dressing is exactly what you need. The best part is that this dressing can double as a dip for raw vegetables. Unlike traditional ranch dressing, which contains dairy, hydrogenated oils, added sugars, and preservatives, this hemp seed ranch is healthy. It doesn’t counteract the benefits of the raw vegetables you consume in your salad like fattening store bought ranch. Aside from being free of processed ingredients, this dressing contains hemp seeds.

Hemp seeds are excellent sources of omega 3 & 6 fatty acids, and they are high quality sources of complete protein. Four tablespoons offers 15 grams of protein, but hemp seeds also contain iron, thiamine, folate, vitamin E, riboflavin, and other micronutrients that the body needs. Unlike other nuts and seeds, you don’t have to soak hemp seeds to ease the digestive process. The body can absorb and digest all the nutrients in hemp seeds without the aid of soaking them in water. They also blend easily and add wonderful creaminess to this dressing. So let’s make it!

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Yes, it is possible to make hummus without garbanzo beans. It seems crazy, but it’s quite easy and very filling, two essential descriptions for people on a raw vegan diet. You don’t want a recipe to be hard work because when you’re hungry, you need food immediately. A big batch of this will be an incredible snack to pair with carrot, celery, bell pepper, or cucumber sticks.

Not only does this recipe look like hummus, but it tastes like it too! The zucchini is a thickening agent, but so are the raw sunflower seeds. Remember, it’s beneficial to soak the sunflower seeds in water for about an hour before you add them to a food processor. This aids the blending process to help get a smoother consistency. There’s nothing wrong with a little chunkiness in your hummus, but you should aim for a smooth, luxurious texture. Plus, a smooth hummus is much easier to pick up with celery sticks.

If you don’t want to use this as a dip, it goes great in a raw vegan lettuce or collard wrap. Add tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, parsley, and avocado to the leaf after spreading a generous layer of hummus on it. Roll it up and you have yourself a filling entree.

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This tahini ranch dressing is very similar to our raw vegan cucumber ranch dressing (click here for recipe). The primary difference is that it is seed-free, nut-free, and oil-free. That doesn’t mean that it lacks flavor, though. In fact, this raw vegan rendition of a classically unhealthy ranch dressing bursts with flavor. The nuttiness of the tahini is the perfect creamy base. This makes the dressing ultra thick and even more delicious. Unlike dressings that contain nuts or seeds, this recipe blends easily so it’ll be ready in under five minutes.

One thing to note about raw tahini is that it tends to separate when you store it in the pantry. That means that you have to give it a good shake before you pour it into the blender. If you don’t shake it before blending, your dressing may be too thin and not as flavorful as it should be. Lastly, the amount of water we list in the ingredient section is just a standard recommendation. You can always add a little more if the consistency turns out too thick for your liking. Remember that the dressing will thicken up when you store it in the fridge. When you add more water, only add one tablespoon at a time to avoid thinning the dressing too much.

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